Utah anti-porn law challenged

A coalition of civil-liberties organizations and attorneys is challenging a new Utah law aimed at keeping Net-based pornography away from kids, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and others say the law violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution (the latter because the Internet is global and "Utah's law affects legal speech outside of the state," according to the Tribune). The law requires the state attorney general's office to create a database of sites that "appeal to children's 'prurient interests in sex'." The legal challenge on First Amendment grounds did not come as a surprise. In response to it, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff "has halted efforts to implement the new law." [Thanks to BNA Internet Law for pointing this article out.]